(Disclaimer: Don't own anything except the following story)
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Return of the Dragon Slayer.
Chapter Six.
Dean felt his anger rise "Why would they want to kill you? You're just a little boy"
Caleb looked at him, confusion on his face "'Cause I'm your boy and you the 'Dragon Slayer'. You the one that stop the bad men and help the dragons be free"
"Me?"
"Aaah, I hate to bring this up but 'Dragon Slayer' …doesn't that mean he kills the dragons?" asked Sam…"And I can't believe I'm buying into this" he said quietly.
"No. I mean, yes" started Finn and Sam just stared at her. She laughed "Sorry. In the beginning, the 'Dragon Slayer' did just that. The Ancients were at war with them..." she gave a small smile "they were kicking our arse apparently"
"What with the whole shooting of fire thing" Dean grinned then stopped himself, he was still pissed at her.
She gave him a small smile "Yeah, but they're formidable when they fight together. They're not the mindless, blood-thirsty reptiles your literature makes them out to be. They're intelligent, proud and courageous and when they work together…" she shook her head "they'll destroy everything in their path"
"Then why would Dean have to 'set them free'?" asked Sam.
"That's complicated" said Finn "Caleb?" she crouched down and the wolf licked her face "Easy, Wolf" she pushed him away and Caleb walked over and whispered in her ear, she frowned "You sure?" he nodded and whispered some more "Okay. Take Wolf outside and finish feeding the animals" she kissed his forehead "Keep him with you"
"Okay. Come on, Wolf" he turned and headed towards the door.
Dean put his hand on the boys arm and stopped him "Caleb…"
Caleb stepped away from him "You talk to my Mamma then you can go, Dean" he patted Wolf on the head and walked out, Wolf at his heels.
"Okay, well that was harsh" said Dean as he stood.
"Yeah?" said Finn and she started clearing the table.
"Don't get pissed at me, Finn. I'm not the one that messed with people's minds and kept secrets" said Dean angrily.
She dumped the dishes in the sink and turned to him "I get that you're pissed, Dean, I do. But you hurt my son and I'll kill you"
"Your son? Try our son, Finn. I'm his father…remember?"
"I explained to you, there are no obligations here. You want to be a part of his life then good…he'd like that, but don't screw him around. He's not like other kids, he'll know if you're lying to him so don't you be pulling any bullshit"
"Me pulling bullshit?You're the bullshit expert, Finn! 'No, I can't get pregnant! Sound familiar?"
"Okay…I'm starting to hit a whole new level of uncomfortable here" said Sam. He put his sword and shield down "How about we just put these 'happy family moments' aside and …"
"We're not family, Sam. She's just a chick who happens to be the mother of my son!" he dropped his shield "fuck me…" and he sat down heavily at the table "a son" he put his head in his hands "I'm so screwed"
"Well that's just lovely" said Finn "It's those sort of comments you keep to yourself! And if you took even five minutes to talk to him, you'd see that he's a great kid. Shit, I don't need to explain him to you" she came over to the table and sat opposite Dean "Sit down, Sam. I'll tell you what I know then you can go"
Sam went to the bench and bought coffee and three cups back "I'm guessing this'll go a lot easier if you both try and be civil…well easier for me anyway"
Finn poured coffee for herself and looked at Sam "Okay, Sam. So you sort of believe that the place Dean's been dreaming about is real" he nodded "Well trust me, it is. It's not like anything you've ever seen before because it really is another world…or realm. So that means it comes with its own set of rules, laws, rituals, ceremonies…that kind of thing. We do things very differently from the way they're done here" he nodded again "So we're a monarchy, there's a royal family of sorts and there are also a group of people called 'Elders'…"
"What are they?"
"Kind of like…a cross between what you call politicians and religious leaders. They have powerful magic and are very influential. They're really old…I mean seriously old, so they're supposed to have wisdom as well…"
Sam grinned "With age not always comes wisdom"
Finn laughed softly "You got that right" she sighed "This is where it gets tricky. We're governed by one… the 'Supreme Royal'… they pretty much run the realm, look after all its people, lead the army, all that kind of stuff"
"Okay" said Sam.
"But the Elders are there to make sure that any decisions made, are in the best interest of Larten Vola and its people. The Elders are pretty much untouchable…except by members of the Royal Family…but there are limits as well, there has to be or it would be a dictatorship not a democracy" she gave a short smile "a democracy without all the voting, I mean. Larten Vola can only be ruled by someone with Royal Blood …" she looked over at Dean, his eyes were starting to glaze over "Try not to fall asleep, Dean, I'm actually going somewhere with this" he glared at her.
"History was never his strong point" said Sam with a grin.
Dean gave him the finger "Just finish"
"I'm trying" she turned to Sam "So my home can only be ruled by royalty…unless the bloodline dies out or is deposed; then the Elders govern Larten Vola with a proxy in the Supreme Royal's place"
Dean sat up straighter in his chair "Gideon?"
"Impeached"
"Are you kidding me?" asked Dean incredulously.
"Who the hell is Gideon?" asked Sam.
"My brother. He was the Supreme Royal"
"So it fell to you and…" asked Dean.
"And I was about three months pregnant with Caleb at the time and a pregnant, unmarried Supreme Ruler wasn't deemed suitable. Damn, elitist bastards." she shook her head "Anyway, they gave me three choices; get rid of Caleb; reject the office of Supreme Ruler or if I chose to take the office then I had to marry someone they deemed suitable. I told them to go fuck themselves"
"Why didn't you just tell them about Dean?" asked Sam.
"Because they know what he looks like, they know he's the next 'Dragon Slayer' and they'd have tried to kill him and then Caleb"
"Again with the why?" asked Sam.
"The Prophecy…it wasn't Baba Yaga's time…it's now" said Dean.
Finn nodded "And you stand in the way of the Elders ruling Larten Vola"
"And Caleb?"
"He's your son, that's just vindictiveness. He also has royal blood, if they kill him, they eliminate any challenge to the office of Supreme Royal and The Elders take control of Larten Vola for good"
"I don't mean to sound like an asshole but why not just kill you?" asked Sam, this was messing with his head…royal family, elders…dragons…shit.
"Too risky. They couldn't chance an uprising. Not that I'm all that popular, I'm a bit of a bitch…shut up, Dean…and not many know me but I'm still royalty…and this way it looks like I spat on the job"
"But they know where you live, Finn. They could just come here and…"
"They're not entirely sure I know who you are…so they won't kill me. They send someone every now and again to threaten me and Caleb" she shrugged "I'm used to it and Gideon and the Royal Guards that came here that day had their memories of you removed so they can't tell either"
"I'm so freakin' confused" said Sam.
"Yeah, well it's gonna get more confusing, so hang on. From the few sources I have, the Elders have decided that it's time to open the doors and come back into this realm. They say they want to live alongside the mortals, help them out…stop 'Wrong Ones', all the usual bullshit"
"How do you know it's bullshit?" asked Sam.
"Because we can't live among mortals. Shit, Sam…I'm almost 1500 years old, how do you think that's gonna sit with those in this realm? The Elders don't want to live amongst them, they want to rule them and they're gonna use the dragons to do that"
"Okay, I hate to point this out, but a dragon against an F18? Come on" Sam laughed.
"Keep laughing, chuckles. A dragon is bigger than a fighter plane and more manoeuvrable. It may not have missiles and all that crap but when they're here? They're invisible. How's that for stealth"
"Fucking hell…"
"Yeah. But Caleb says the dragons don't want any part of it. They've been left alone for millennia now and they like it that way. A pact was made between the dragons and my parents…they were given a large part of Larten Vola, sacred land, where they could hunt, breed, live in peace and in return they would guard our home from invaders. Caleb says the Elders have told the dragons they have to help them take over this realm or they'll wipe them out"
"But…you just said they're virtually unstoppable. Why don't they just kill the Elders?"
"They're not allowed. They're not allowed to kill Ancients, that was part of the pact. But they won't submit to them either. There's little doubt, they'll fight and if they do...they'll die. They breed slowly too, so no-one really knows how many there are but Caleb said something about them using 'big birds'…I'm not sure what he means by that…but he said the dragons are worried"
"Caleb knows this?" said Dean.
"If he says it, then it's true" she stood up "Come with me, Dean"
He stood up and followed her towards the back of the cabin. They walked out to an enclosed, shuttered porch and Finn led him to a window and pointed. Dean stood next to Finn and stared in amazement at the sight before him. Caleb was sitting on the grass, Wolf lying next to him, the animals head in his lap while he fed his 'animals'. Dean had assumed Finn was referring to pets…like chickens or something, but the boy was surrounded by wild animals. There were foxes, squirrels, hares, deer, snakes…birds of all kinds and an eagle. He turned to Finn.
She smiled softly "Your son has an affinity with nature…animals in particular"
Dean smiled "So he's like 'Dr Doolittle' or something?"
Finn laughed "Or something" she leaned against the window "He said you're supposed to be hearing the dragons" he nodded "Well he hears them too. If he says the dragons are worried then they are. I don't understand how he does it but I don't question it either"
Dean watched as a deer came over and ate out of Caleb's hand "I didn't want any of this, Finn"
"I know. Hate me if you want, but don't hate him"
Dean sighed "I don't hate you, Finn. I'm pissed at you"
She nodded "At least say goodbye to him. Don't tell him you'll see him soon if you're not going to. He knows you're his father but that doesn't mean we want you to come live here and do that whole white-picket fence thing, I know that's not you…and it's not really us either. But…" she shrugged "Caleb and I are happy. If you want to drop by every now and again, he'd like that"
They watched as Caleb turned and all the animals scattered except Wolf. Caleb ran towards the house and pushed the door open "Wolf said someone's coming"
"How long?" asked Finn.
Caleb looked at Wolf then back to his mother "Any minute"
"Shit. Come on" she ran back to the main room "Sam, move the car into the back shed" he rose slowly from his chair "NOW Sam" he grabbed the keys from the counter and ran out.
"What's going on?"
"Caleb, you go to your room and hide. Take Dean with you and do NOT come out until I tell you it's safe"
"Yes, Mamma"
"Go Dean" said Finn as she went to her room.
Dean followed her "What's going on?" he asked again as she put her daggers in her boots and a pistol at the small of her back.
"I'm not expecting anyone. Take Caleb into the room and hide him. Whatever you do, whatever you hear, do NOT come out. If you hear me yell in the Ancient language, you take Caleb and run, take him to Mickey, he'll know what to do"
"Finn.."
"Do it, Dean. We don't have a lot of time"
She went out and Caleb was waiting "Caleb, remember that talk we had about going to live with Uncle Mickey?" the boy nodded "You need to show Dean and Sam the way out of here" he nodded, tears welling in his eyes. She crouched in front of him and hugged him "I'll be fine but you need to be ready okay?"
He nodded "Okay, Mamma"
Sam came back in "Done but there are two horsemen coming from the far field"
"Go Caleb"
Caleb grabbed Sam's hand and pulled him into the room "Come on, Uncle Sam"
"Go with them, Dean"
Dean shook his head "No" he grabbed his swords and put them over his back.
"Jesus…you're a pain in the arse" she went to the window as she saw two horses sail over the fence, their flanks white with sweat. She turned to Dean "You're fucking lucky" and she went outside, Dean following her.
She stood at the porch steps as the men stopped their horses in front of her "Amos, it's too dangerous for you to be here" said Finn.
"We had no choice, ma'am. They've taken a fledgling and have given the dragons a week to agree or they'll kill it and start the war"
"Jesus, how'd they get a fledgling?" she asked.
"We're not sure but it's not just any fledgling…it's the golden one"
"Shit…shit, shit…" said Finn.
"Is this him?" asked Amos, indicating Dean. Finn nodded "You need to come home and you need to bring him"
She nodded "Gideon?" Amos paused "Well?"
"Scheduled for execution in a week"
"WHAT?"
"They'll kill him with the fledgling"
She shook her head "Oh those pricks…" she looked at Amos "I need your help, there's a car in the back shed I need taken to Mickey's. I also need you to find Seth and bring him back, speak with Mickey about his whereabouts. Can you do that for me?"
He nodded and handed her a piece of paper "Here's the incantation you need to get through. We're camped at the base of 'Darden Mountain' in the 'Loch Forest'" he smiled "Should keep most of them out" he looked at Dean "They know you're coming. The Dragons have been circling"
Dean nodded "Then we need to get moving" he turned when the screen door opened and Caleb came out.
The boy walked slowly towards the front of the porch and slipped his hand into his mothers "We go home now, Mamma? With Dean and Uncle Sam?
Finn looked at Dean and he nodded "Looks like, Caleb"
"Good. 'Cause the Dragons say if Dean not come soon, then they go war without him"
To be continued…